In the field of brick making, there are generally two types of bricks; "Green" bricks and "Fired" bricks. To manufacture a common brick a soft mixture of clay is extruded through an extrusion device to form a flat horizontally extending column of clay from which clay slugs are produced. These slugs are later cut into a common "brick" shape by passing them through a cutting assembly unit such as a "push through" cutter. Various other assembly units can be included into the brick making production line before or after the cutting unit.
Generally, a "green" brick is defined as a brick which is an amorphous or soft state produced from the clay column coming from the extruder. A "fired" brick on the other hand, is a brick, which once leaving the extrusion device (as a "green" brick), proceeds to a drier and into a kiln wherein the brick is "fired".
It is well known to manufacture bricks having an irregular appearance. This irregular appearance is generally produced by taking either "green" or "fired" bricks and tumbling them. This tumbling action deforms the edges of "green" and chips the edges of "fired" bricks, giving each respective brick a unique appearance.
When green bricks are tumbled, they are placed into a tumbling machine which knocks, folds and generally distorts the shape of the brick. When fired bricks are tumbled, they are placed in a similar tumbling machine and "rumbled". These tumbling machines include a drum mounted for rotation about its longitudinal axis. The internal surface of the drum is provided with a plurality of spaced bars which engage and lift the bricks. The drum is driven by an electric motor.
Unfortunately, this method for producing tumbled fired bricks is extremely noisy and produces significant quantities of dust. Both prior all processes are also very labor intensive.
Bricks produced in this traditional way invariably have to be handled manually because the distortions prevent automatic marshaling and setting equipment being used. Accordingly, tumbled bricks are more costly to manufacture.